The National Football League and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) Tuesday announced a seven-year agreement for SIRIUS to broadcast all NFL games live nationwide, and for SIRIUS to become the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the National Football League, with exclusive rights to use the NFL "shield" logo and collective NFL team trademarks.
Beginning with the NFL's 2004 season, SIRIUS will carry the entire regular season as well as select preseason contests and playoff games.
As part of the agreement, SIRIUS will create "The NFL Radio Network," an around-the-clock exclusive stream of NFL content for SIRIUS subscribers.
The radio channel will provide news, features, and a wide range of other programming highlighting the NFL and its teams. The NFL Radio Network on Sirius will also include programs from NFL Network, the first television network dedicated to the NFL which launched in November.
SIRIUS will offer all of the NFL programming at no additional cost to its subscribers.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said, "SIRIUS has a strong commitment to sports broadcasting. We look forward to the great new programming that will be available to NFL fans on Sirius. Our partnership with SIRIUS provides all fans nationwide with another way to stay in touch with their favorite teams."
"The NFL is the most powerful name in sports, and SIRIUS is elated to be working with this world-class organization," said Joseph P. Clayton, President and CEO, SIRIUS. "For the first time ever, football fans will have the opportunity to hear radio play-by-play of their favorite NFL team - called by their favorite local announcers - no matter where they are in North America. This agreement represents a major enhancement to our superior programming lineup and it underscores our ongoing commitment to enrich the SIRIUS subscriber experience."
Scott Greenstein of The Greenstein Group, an entertainment industry consulting firm that brought SIRIUS and the NFL together, commented, "This is much more than a simple broadcast license. The NFL programming provides SIRIUS with compelling content that is unavailable anywhere else while allowing the teams to connect with their
out-of-market fans across the country."
The agreement between the NFL and SIRIUS is subject to customary documentation, which is expected to be completed by January 31, 2004. Details are provided in an 8-K filed by Sirius.
A complete schedule of games will be available at www.sirius.com and www.nfl.com. SIRIUS radios for the car and home, starting at $149, are available at thousands of retailers nationwide. The monthly subscription fee is $12.95, or less with prepaid subscription plans.
About SIRIUS
SIRIUS is the only satellite radio service bringing listeners more than 100 streams of the best music and entertainment coast-to-coast.
SIRIUS offers 60 music streams with no commercials, along with over 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment streams for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95, with greater savings for upfront payments of multiple months or a year or more.
Stream Jockeys create and deliver uncompromised music in virtually every genre to our listeners 24 hours a day. Satellite radio products bringing SIRIUS to listeners in the car, truck, home, RV and boat are manufactured by Kenwood, Panasonic, Clarion and Audiovox, and are available at major retailers including Circuit City, Best Buy, Car Toys, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics, Sears and Crutchfield.
SIRIUS is the leading OEM satellite radio provider, with exclusive partnerships with DaimlerChrysler, Ford and BMW.
Automotive brands currently offering SIRIUS radios in select new car models include BMW, MINI, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep(r), Nissan, Infiniti, Mazda, Audi, Ford and Lincoln-Mercury.
Automotive brands that have announced plans to offer SIRIUS in select models include Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Volkswagen, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Genmar Holdings, the world's largest manufacturer of recreational boats, Formula Boats and Winnebago, the leading supplier of recreational vehicles and motor homes, have also announced plans to offer SIRIUS.
Go to www.SIRIUS.com to listen to SIRIUS live, or to find a SIRIUS retailer or car dealer in your area.
Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Among the key factors that have a direct bearing on our results of operations are: our dependence upon third parties to manufacture, distribute, market and sell SIRIUS radios and components for those radios; the unproven market for our service; our competitive position and any events which affect the useful life of our satellites.
